22nd December 2014

INTERIOR designer
Jolland Lee, 57, has taken a fancy to the spacious look of open kitchens,
having designed many of them for HDB flat owners over the years.

That is why
he was happy to be given the option of not having a kitchen partition wall
built in his new flat in Yishun.

Mr Lee, who
applied for a five-room flat in July this year, is among many flat buyers who
are choosing an open-kitchen option offered by the Housing Board.

Having an
open kitchen will give his family more living-room space, he said.

About six in
10 flat buyers in 30 Build-To-Order (BTO) projects over the past year have
requested their homes to come without kitchen partition walls, said the HDB.

An HDB
spokesman said it has offered the open-kitchen option since September last year
to give families more flexibility in designing their flats.

"This
option also saves home buyers the hassle and cost of hacking down the walls if
they prefer an open-kitchen layout," said the spokesman.

Flat owners
said they can save about $400 from hacking down the wall to create an open
kitchen. It would also take contractors about about four to five days to hack
down the wall.

Another flat
owner who opted for the open-kitchen option is finance executive Ben Chia, 30.
He plans to have an island table in the kitchen of his five-room flat in Teck
Ghee, in Ang Mo Kio.

"The
open-kitchen concept suits our lifestyle. My wife and I cook healthy meals. So
we are less concerned about oil and smell travelling to the other parts of our
home," he said.

The HDB
piloted the open-kitchen option in its September 2012 BTO project Teck Ghee
Parkview. About 70 per cent of flat buyers in the project took up the option,
and the first batch of flats will be ready in the first quarter of 2017.

The
open-kitchen option is part of the Optional Component Scheme, introduced by the
HDB in 1989 to allow flat buyers to customise their homes to suit their needs.

The scheme
has been expanded over the years and offers different options for flooring,
doors and sanitary fittings.

Figures from HDB showed 60 per cent of build-to-order (BTO) flat buyers
opted not to have a kitchen partition wall, if they had a choice.

Source: Channel News Asia / Singapore

SINGAPORE: "Open kitchens" have appeared to be
the preferred option among buyers of new Housing and Development Board (HDB)
apartments.

HDB figures showed 60 per cent of build-to-order (BTO)
flat buyers opted not to have a kitchen partition wall when given a choice. One
reason cited was that people do not cook as much as before, and households with
less use for a kitchen can put the space to better use.

The option to have an open kitchen was piloted during a
BTO exercise at Teck Ghee Parkview in September 2012. Around 70 per cent of
home buyers chose the open kitchen concept at that time.

The choice of whether or not to have a wall separating
the kitchen from the rest of the flat comes under HDB's Optional Component
Scheme (OCS) - introduced in 1989 to give flat buyers more options when
customising their homes.

Kelvin Tan, co-founder and interior designer at Celsius
Ink, said such options help new home owners save money.

"Without the open kitchen concept, they have to
knock down walls, remove tiles, and a lot of submissions are required in order
for them to achieve this new design,” he said. “With the savings, if this option
is provided, they're able to use their funds in some other areas for
renovation.”

Alvin Chan, managing director of i.Haven Design
Consultants, said: "I think you can save a good amount of money, because
if you're talking about hacking, on a high price side, you're looking at
anywhere between $400 and $500. Touching up might cost you about $300 to $400
if it is a big wall. Easily, you can save up to $700 or $800."

The first batch of flats offering the open concept
kitchen are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017.

SINGAPORE — More than half of Build-to-Order (BTO) flat buyers
have opted for an open kitchen concept since the Housing and Development Board
(HDB) started offering such a choice in September last year.

As of Oct 31, six of 10 BTO buyers who have selected a unit chose
the feature, the HDB said. So far, this option has been offered in 30 BTO
projects.

The choice of whether to have a kitchen partition wall was first
offered to buyers under the expanded Optional Component Scheme last year.

Teck Ghee Parkview, at Block 455A to Block 455C on Ang Mo Kio
Street 44, was the first to offer the option in the September 2012 BTO
exercise. It received a positive response, with about 70 per cent of home
buyers opting for an open kitchen. The first batches of such flats are expected
to be completed in the first quarter of 2017.

The HDB said it offered the open kitchen option to provide home
buyers greater flexibility in terms of layout and design to suit their
lifestyle needs.

Mr Steven Chua, who selected his flat at Toa Payoh Apex in July,
chose to have an open kitchen. “Visually, it makes my flat look more spacious,”
said the unemployed 37-year-old.

Mr Kelvin Tan, co-founder and interior designer at Celsius Ink,
said such options help new home owners save money.

“Without (this option), they have to knock down walls and remove
tiles, and a lot of submissions are required in order for them to achieve this
new design,” he said. “With the savings, they’re able to use their funds in
some other areas for renovation.”

PONTIAN
(Malaysia) - A proposed land reclamation project in the Johor Strait has once
again raised environmental concerns, even as a Detailed Environmental Impact
Assessment (DEIA) report on it was released by the Pontian authorities last
month.

The project
to create a 1,411ha island, known as the Tanjung Piai Maritime Industrial Park,
is one of two massive land reclamation projects in the south-western end of
Malaysia's Johor state which have previously sparked concerns among
environmentalists.

The other project,
a 2,000ha proposed island, near the Second Link Bridge connecting Johor to
Singapore, is known as Forest City.

A Straits
Times report in June quoted the company involved in the Tanjung Piai project,
Benalec Holdings, as saying reclamation is expected to begin before the end of
this year, and oil storage facilities would be built once the island is
completed.

Pekan Nanas
assemblyman Yeo Tung Siong of the opposition Democratic Action Party raised
concerns at a press conference over whether Tanjung Piai will become another
Pengerang, reported the Sin Chew Daily last Saturday.

He was
referring to a US$16 billion (S$21 billion) project on the south-eastern side
of Johor, in Pengerang, called the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated
Development (Rapid), which activists have said would harm the environment and
affect the livelihoods of fishermen. Previous media reports said this project
is part of the Malaysian government's plan to capture some of the global energy
business from Singapore.

Benalec is
also involved in the reclamation works to extend the shoreline of the Rapid
project.

As for the
Tanjung Piai project, Mr Yeo raised fears that the proposed oil storage
facility, which is less than 1km away from Tanjung Piai's mangrove forests and
about 10km away from Kukup fishing village, will bring irreparable damage to
the forests and fishing grounds in the area.

The facility
will attract large oil bunkers, leading to the possibility of oil spills that
will have a serious impact on the water quality.

Many fish
farms and resort operators are likely to be affected too, added Mr Yeo.

Already, he
said, close to 90 per cent of local residents are against two other major
development projects in the area, a power plant in Tanjung Bin and a port in
Tanjung Pelepas.

According to
the DEIA report, 51.2 per cent of residents polled have voiced opposition to
the Tanjung Piai project. Mr Yeo cited this as a reason that he is gathering at
least 50 signatures for a petition which he will submit to the Environment
Ministry on Friday.